By LINDA KINSEY
Staff

Putting the America 250 special section together for all of you in the future has been my pleasure. Wish we had more time and space to share more.
Here we are in 2026 wondering what life will be like in 2076 so I’m going to go over a few changes we have had in the past 50 years.
I remember when we only had land line telephones and it was long distance to call about anywhere, even Wakulla Station. Many of us still had Tallahassee addresses until the E911 addresses were implemented in the mid 1990s. After the land lines came the cordless phone, you could actually talk on the phone and pull weeds from your flower garden, prep food and other time saving projects.

Selling advertising and working with customers at the local paper in Wakulla – we would print out an ad, then get in the car and take it to the client for proofing. They would mark up the changes or corrections and you would get in your car and take the copy back to the office for the changes. You would then get back in your car and take it back to the customer for final approval. Then there came the fax machine and most businesses had one and you could just fax back and forth. No wonder I stayed thin all those years.
Then there came the cell phone and the internet. Some people had the big bag phones in their car before everyone started getting the smaller hand held models.
We did not have a computer at home or a cell phone until the late 1990s.
The cell phone companies charged you for the service and for the minutes you used. I gave my phone number to a friend then told her not to call me. I got it for emergencies only. We got the plan also for my teenage daughter and I got one for my mother. I told my mother to make sure she hangs it up after a call or the minutes would continue charging me… so she never used it.
Then texts became a feature on the cell phones. You type a message and send to another phone. A friend of mine, Cheri Morgan, texted me and said “dork” just because she could… So I returned with “double dork.” So she returned with “dork to the 2nd power” …and we continued. We found out later when we got our bills that each dork was costing us 25 cents so we laughed but didn’t play around with that anymore. You also had to pay for roaming if you were out of your call area.
One time I called Sheriff David Harvey about an advertisement and he said that he was in Paris right now and to call him when he gets back in town. I remember thinking “Wow, he has a premium cell package,” my plan wouldn’t connect in Paris.
Back in the ‘90s you also had to pay for the email service. AOL charged you $20 per month to be able to email someone.
Now most people like to receive an email or text about their advertisements but I like to meet people in person whenever possible and learn more about them and their business so I can assist them in the best way possible. Then we may go to texts and emails.
Now everyone has a phone with a camera and a lot of people use that feature.
You still have to pay for phone service but there is no roaming fee, text fee or long distance.
I gave my land line up and stopped paying for that in the late 2000s when I realized I had not used it for two years. My phone number was 926-1122 and hard to give up.
I talk about this fabulous technology we have today and how convenient much of it is , but when I was growing up we didn’t have a cable bill, a cell phone bill, an internet bill, a water bill AND sewer bill. It was a much simpler time where little kids played in the neighborhoods, kids were everywhere and kids were safer. kids were outside more often playing.

• TV stopped airing at midnight. White static screen is all you would get.
• The first front page color photo appeared in the paper in Wakulla in March 1998. It was done once just to see what it would look like. It was the talk of the town and there was no going back.
• My first computer game was Pong – you would paddle a ball across the screen.
• In 2006 we sent our first electronic version of the paper to print via the internet.
• Wakulla had many mobile homes until native Wakullian Gene Cutchin started building neighborhoods. Google says he started in the ‘70s but it really ramped it up in the 1990s on.
• Wakulla Springs was beautiful and clear in 1988, a gradual decline began in the late 1980s and 1990s. The State of Florida and others fought Ed Ball over the fence across the Wakulla River at Upper Bridge until the state purchased Wakulla Spring after Ball’s death.
• There was decline in the livelihood of many fishermen and fish houses started to decline in 1994 when Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment that banned gill nets.
• The Sanders Crab House continues to sell crab claws, lump crab, and crab meat in 2026.
• Stone Crab Season would start every year on Oct. 15. It was a fun time with claw lovers and friends of the Tookes who would gather for the boat to come in at St. Marks Seafood. They always allowed me to take photos for the paper and I would buy several pounds while I was there. They would share some with those who had gathered to come to buy some claws or just to share and celebrate the season opening. Stan West from Riverside Café would always come over and help a bit and wait to take some back next door to serve to his patrons.
• We have A+ rated schools.
• Wakulla Volunteers – there are so many giving people in this county I hope those shoes have been filled by the next generation. Big shoes to fill.
• There are three hotels and two motels in the county.
• Sopchoppy began its annual Fourth of July parade and fireworks celebration in 1973. Founded by Bill “Mr Sopchoppy” Stephens, the community event takes place annually in downtown Sopchoppy and at the Myron B. Hodge City Park.
• Sharon Bailey, who is living today, lived in the old jail where they housed the inmates. Her dad, Fred Bailey was the jailor and her mom cooked the meals for the inmates. The Baileys lived on the ground level and the inmates were housed upstairs.
  We have come a long way, baby!

Lynda Kinsey was with The Wakulla News from 1988 to 2022, and The Wakulla Sun from 2022 to …

Lynda Kinsey is the sales and marketing executive for The Wakulla Sun.

Our family just got a little bigger – and a whole lot cuter!
Ashley Kinsey and Jay Blanco of Waterford, Virginia are proud to announce the birth of their son, Theodore Jorge Blanco, born June 7th, 2026.
He joins one brother Julien Miguel, who is 3 years old as of July 10, 2026.
Maternal Grandparents are Lynda Kinsey of Crawfordville and the late Michael Kinsey.
Paternal Grandparents are Teresa and Jorge Blanco of San Antonio.Texas.

On Friday, the Wakulla County Sheriff Jared Miller hosted the department’s annual Law Day at the community center. (Photos by Lynda Kinsey)

The event is opportunity to bring together the community over lunch, catered by Posey’s this year, and present awards to some of the agency’s employees. This year’s Civilian Employee of the Year was Desiree Willis; Communications Employee of the Year was Keara McAnally; William Bennett was Correction Officer of the Year; and Sgt. Wade Wright was Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. County Judge Brian Miller, at left, gave opening remarks and noted that working law enforcement in Wakulla is different from a big city: Deputies see people they’ve arrested at the rec park. Judge Miller said he’s seen people who’ve been before him in court at the Walmart. The judge praised the service of those at the sheriff’s office, and noted when he first started as Wakulla’s chief prosecutor for the state attorney’s office, he had read Luke 12, which includes the line: ‘For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.’